Tag Archives: Cycling

Coming Fall 2014 you will start to see many more bikes traveling these city streets. The city has committed millions of dollars in capital funds to this Bike Share project that may have you rethink how you get around. Their goal is to implement the Bike Share in zones of Center City and surrounding neighborhoods. When the project is at completion they hope to see between 150-200 Bike Share stations docking nearing 1,500 bikes.

(Photo Source: http://www.phila.gov/bikeshare)

Bike Share will be prominent in neighborhoods such as Bella Vista, Queen Village, Passyunk Square, South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, Temple University all the way to the Navy Yard. At the most recent Bella Vista Neighbors Association meeting, this was discussed in great detail by the Mayors Office of Transportation and Utilities as Bella Vista would have a Bike Share station implemented.

The Bike Share program wouldn’t be for your everyday bike rider. This program would be targeted at students, tourists, anyone who does not own a bike. This would become one more option of transportation similar to jumping on the bus or walking. Yearly and monthly memberships will be offered. They price comparable to other major cities with Bike Share options. A single ride could be bought for under $10.

These bikes will be large, heavy and uniquely designed for Bike Share. They will be three-speed and made with hard to replace parts hoping to deter theft. Philadelphia will become the 37th city to offer a Bike Share program. As a non-bike rider living in Center City Philadelphia (for reasons of erratic Philly drivers) I am still excited to see this change come to the city as it promotes outdoor, physical activity. Although, I would consider making one change and make the helmet policy mandatory.